FM06 M is for Memories
by Miz Em
Summary: Granger Clan Saga. Events in the Granger home, centered around Colby's sons.


"Mama," Cameron said softly, from the kitchen door. 

Hannah looked up and a gentle smile transformed her into a beautiful Madonna. Well, Cameron thought so anyway. He returned her smile.

"Cam. What are you doing here on a Saturday afternoon? Why aren't you out with some nubile nymph and making her mother nervous?" Hannah teased him gently.

His smile turned into a wicked grin. She knew him well. He shrugged nonchalantly, "Just stopped by to see if you were making lasagna. You used to do that when you knew Dad was going to be home. Where is he, anyway?"

Hannah recognized the change of subject as the evasion it was, but let it go. For now. "He's in the garage, tinkering away."

Cam laughed, "Motorcycle or car?"

She joined in his laughter, "I haven't a clue. Why don't you go help him? I'm sure you have some old clothes here you can change into." It often amused Hannah that Cam was always well turned out, regardless of where he was going. Just as it amused her how the triplets dressed so differently. No, were just plain different, period. Tyler favored severe suits that just screamed G-Man, Brandon stayed in jeans and t-shirt, more often than not adorned with paint or some other art medium, and Cam, well, Cam always looked like he'd stepped out of a GQ magazine.

"Okay," Cam agreed easily, "You don't mind if I stay for dinner?" Then he laughed when he saw the amusement on her face. "Alright, alright. We're always welcome to dinner. Got it." And left to find out what his father was doing.

He grinned when he saw his father, well, his legs anyway. He was under the 1967 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 that had been his pride and joy for some 30 years. Cam was amazed that he had managed to keep it running all this time.

"So you going to stand there like an idiot or you going to change into some old clothes and help me?" Colby said tartly from under the car.

Cam laughed, then just to rile his old man, "I thought I'd take the motorcycle out for a ride."

Colby snorted, "Over my dead body. Get your own, you can afford it."

Chuckling, Cam asked, "You going to kidnap her again?" It had always amused him but his dad "kidnapped" his mother on a regular basis, for weekends alone, while they were growing up. Not that anyone had been fooled by the "kidnapping", Mama always had that happy gleam in her eye while she made arrangements for their care in preparation for being "kidnapped".

"Kidnapping is a federal offense, as you well know," came the quick retort, but Colby was laughing. "No, I haven't had to since you all moved out to your own places. It's nice to have the house to ourselves."

Cam snickered, knowing full well that having kids in the house hadn't stopped them. "Okay, I'm going to change clothes."

Colby rolled out from under the car. There was grease and dirt all over him. "Don't worry about it, it's done. It was a small thing."

"What about a wash and wax?"

Cam squirmed a little under Colby's regard, wishing he hadn't been so quick to offer the help. It wasn't his usual style. But Colby only said, "Are you staying for dinner? Keeley and Justin called and said they were coming by. So there'll be plenty."

Relieved that his father didn't pursue it, Cam nodded in the affirmative, "I talked to Mama. She didn't mention Keeley, but she said it would be fine."

"Well, since you're here, make yourself useful and get some wine for dinner, will you? You're the connoissieur." And he was, Colby reflected, Cam was the connoissieur in the family, of all the finer things in life, clothing, food, wine, and women. Colby had hoped that Cam would find someone and settle down, but it looked like he was still looking. Colby sighed, still playing the field anyway, he wasn't sure if Cam was looking very hard.

Hannah watched Cam drive off in his Porsche, shaking her head, yet again, about his choice in cars. It was a little too ostentatious for her, but he seemed to enjoy the car.

"It's a chick magnet," Colby said, laughing at Hannah's expression.

She rolled her eyes, "You would know." Then she dodged him as he made to hug her. "You need to clean up before I'll let you near me!"

He laughed, but conceded. Then he asked quietly, "Why do you think he's here?"

"Oh, Colby. It's that day," Hannah's voice trembled. That day. The anniversary of the day Cam was kidnapped.

"It hasn't bothered him in years. Why today?" Colby couldn't help wondering. "And he seemed comfortable enough to joke about me kidnapping you."

"I don't know. Maybe he just needed to be with family. He'll talk when he's ready, if he has anything to say. You know how he is," Hannah paused, then grinned, "Or I'll just dig it out of him if I can't stand the suspense anymore." She popped a kitchen towel at Colby, "Go shower!"

He dodged the towel easily while laughing at her puny effort, but headed off to clean up.

Hannah looked out the window wistfully, remembering the day that Cameron was kidnapped. He'd only been three, but he'd been smart and instrumental in helping the FBI find him and his kidnapper. He hadn't been gone long, but those events had left a mark. He'd never had the same innocence his siblings had. Sighing softly, she turned her attention to dinner preparations.

----

Tyler raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw Cameron's Porsche as he pulled into the driveway. It was unusual for Cameron to be there when it wasn't a holiday. Then he remembered what day it was, and wondered what demons his brother was fighting this time.

"Mama," he said affectionately when he saw her in the kitchen.

Hannah laughed, "What are you doing here? No urgent case this weekend?"

Tyler grinned, "Where's Cam?"

"I don't know," she said softly, "You'll have to ask your father. I've been busy in here."

"He's in the basement," Colby came into the kitchen, hair still wet from his shower. "Pawing through stuff we have in storage. He was laughing to himself about the jiu jitsu mats when I looked in on him."

Colby looked at Hannah in amusement when Tyler left to join Cam in the basement. "Reliving their childhood."

"Do you think they'll be alright down there by themselves? You don't think they'll fight or anything?" Hannah asked anxiously.

Colby shrugged, "They'll be fine. I'll break it up if they fight." He made a grab for Hannah, and she burst into peals of laughter when he tickled her.

----

Cam stopped what he was doing when he heard his mother laugh. He smiled to himself, sure that she was laughing because his father was tickling her. He'd done that for as long as Cam could remember. He'd once told them that there wasn't a more beautiful sound than her laughter. Cam agreed with his father on that. He'd hurt her with his actions more often than he could count, and he wished he could take those times back. But he'd finally got his demons under control some years ago, and he hadn't seen those hurt or worried looks on his mother's face since. And sometimes, she even laughed at his exploits.

"What's up?" Tyler asked from the doorway.

Cam looked at him warily. He was never sure how Tyler would react to his presence. "Just looking through some stuff we used to use."

Tyler grinned, "Dad said you'd found the jiu jitsu mats."

Cam laughed, "Yeah, do you remember that? Dad teaching us jiu jitsu because we were too young for the dojo classes?"

Tyler was quiet for a moment, eying Cam. "You remember why he was teaching us, don't you?" he said softly.

"Yeah," Cam didn't say anymore. He poked around a little more. The basement had been their play area, but since they'd moved out, a lot of junk had been stored there.

"Are you teaching now?" Tyler asked curiously, he'd started poking around too.

"Teaching what?"

"Jiu jitsu."

There was silence as they both looked in boxes of things they hadn't seen since childhood. Then Tyler was surprised when Cam answered, "Yeah. I teach now."

He looked at Cam, trying to read him. Cam met his eyes, a faint, enigmatic smile on his lips. Tyler said dryly, "I figured you were keeping up with it. You got through my defenses pretty handily that last time we brawled on the lawn."

Cam threw back his head and laughed, "Then Dad wiped the floor with all three of us."

Tyler grinned, "I bet you let him. You've always let other people win, haven't you? You never let anyone know anything about you. It's all misdirection."

There were shadows in Cam's eyes. Tyler wondered what demons he was fighting now. He was relieved to see Cam's eyes clear when they met his eyes.

"It was difficult for me to trust anyone, to let anyone know who I am, or what I'm capable of," Cam said quietly, smiling faintly again when he saw his brother struggle to accept the trust that Cam was extending him.

Tyler swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't know how to respond.

"God, you know the world is coming to an end when Cam's decided to trust you, Ty," Brandon said sardonically. He looked around in astonishment. "What in the world are you two doing down here? It's just a storage area now, isn't it?"

"Do you own anything other than paint streaked jeans and t-shirts?" Cam asked in disgust.

"Even if I did, I would still wear these, just to annoy you," Brandon retorted, laughing at Cam's expression.

"What's this?" Tyler was pulling out a sketchbook and several loose sketches.

Brandon and Cam both crowded in to look.

"Oh, my God! It's Dad!" Cam started laughing, "He's in the nude in some of these! Jeez, I wish I look that good!"

"Or are as endowed," Tyler nudged him, grinning.

"Mama did these, I'm sure of it. It's her sketching style," Brandon was laughing too.

"Wonder why she did all these?" Tyler paged through the sketchbook. "It's Dad alright. He's asleep in some of these, and doing various different things in others. Look, he's cooking in this one, and working on the car in this other one. He isn't nude in all of the sketches."

"Jesus, I didn't know she'd kept that," Colby growled from the doorway. "I just knew it was too quiet down here." Then he burst into laughter when all three spun around with identical guilty expressions, while trying to hide the evidence behind their backs. "You should see yourselves. You look like you're eight years old, caught doing something you shouldn't be doing."

"So what's this sketchbook about, Dad?" Brandon asked boldly.

Colby was quiet for a moment, "Why don't you bring that upstairs and ask her yourself? The girls are here, with Justin and Darren. Mama can answer that question for all of you." He turned and went up the stairs before they could say another word.

Hannah was fussing over Verity when Colby got back to the kitchen. He smiled at Verity when she kissed him in greeting. And eyed Darren Martin warningly before turning to Hannah. "The boys have a question for you."

"For me?" Hannah was startled. Then she saw the sketchbook in Tyler's hands. "Oh, no."

Colby grinned, "I thought I'd let you explain that."

"Explain what?" Keeley and Verity both pushed forward to take a look. Their jaws dropped when they saw the nude sketches, before Hannah could grab them. "Oh, my God!"

Hannah sighed, and took the sketches and sketchbook away from Tyler, "That's enough of that. I can't believe you let them bring it up here knowing the girls were here, Colby!"

He shrugged, still amused.

"What were the sketches for, Mama?" Cam said softly. He was the furthest from her, but his quiet question carried across the kitchen.

Hannah hesitated, she had never brought it up, mostly because she wasn't sure if she wanted them to know. "It's a book of memories. Memories of your Dad. I thought he was leaving me."

There was a stunned silence.

"What she's not telling you is that she'd been shot and she was having a difficult time with physical therapy. With walking again. She thought I was leaving her because she wasn't whole," Colby filled in the story.

"Shot!" Keeley said in horror. "When? How?"

Hannah looked helplessly at Colby.

"She was a hostage at the jewelry store, and got caught in the crossfire. Olivia was also shot, but it was a flesh wound. Your mother lost a lot of blood, and was unconscious for several days," Colby replied starkly at the memories that came flooding back.

Justin looked at the expression on his father-in-law's face and felt for him. "You were there, weren't you? Were you part of the team that answered the call?"

Colby sighed, "It was one of the worst times of my life. The other was when Cameron was kidnapped."

"Well, it's over now," Hannah said briskly.

"Why haven't you ever told us about it, Mama?" Cam asked.

"It never came up. Besides, we had other things to worry about," Hannah replied gently.

Cam was quiet, then he quoted softly, "That which does not kill you, makes you stronger."

Dryly, Hannah replied, "Where I come from, that which does not kill you, does not kill you. Which means you have to eat. Now, does anyone want lasagna?"

Verity tried to smother her giggles. Then everyone was laughing, including Cam.

"Lasagna it is. Especially if we have that wine I picked out with it," Cam responded.

"It wasn't all bad, was it?" Colby murmured in Hannah's ear as he helped her.

"No. In fact, I'd say most of it was wonderful," Hannah answered quietly. "Even with the difficulties Cam was facing, it's been more good than bad. It looks like he's finally worked his way out of it. And they all seem to have learned to accept each other."

Colby pulled her into his arms. They watched their grown children banter while they got things ready for dinner. Hannah smiled as Colby quoted, "Memories are made of these."


End file.
